Ferrari latest to declare interest in Formula E

Ferrari have become the latest car giant to declare an interest in entering Formula E.

CEO Sergio Marchionne said that although the current set-up of the series would not interest them, they would consider entering a team ‘a few years from now’.

Marchionne made the comments in a teleconference following the publication of Ferrari’s Q3 earnings on the New York Stock Exchange.

When asked if they had considered entering Formula E, Marchionne said “The answer is yes.”

However he went on to say that the standardisation of the chassis, and the current need to swap cars mid-race, meant that the legendary Italian marque would not consider entering at present.

“I have agonized over with this with my colleagues here in Ferrari for quite a while,” Marchionne said.

“I’m going to give you two answers to the problem. If Formula E today, as currently structured, requires people to change cars during a race because we exhaust the power available within a given car, that is not something that Ferrari would naturally gravitate to.

“Secondly, the standardization associated with the electric car is something which runs against the grain of Ferrari, because otherwise it will prevent [us] from playing whatever it is that it does technically on a vehicle.”

Were these changes made though, Marchionne said that in future they could consider entering a team.

He commented, “If it were to happen it would happen a few years from now. But it’s possible.”

From season five of Formula E teams will be allowed to race with just one car, although Alejandro Agag has reiterated his desire to see chassis standardised for the foreseeable future to allow teams to concentrate on developing the powertrains.

BMW, Jaguar and Citroen are already competing in the series, with the VW Group having recently announced their intention to withdraw from WRC and WEC in order to concentrate on the all-electric series.